Indiana education officials are taking another look at regulating virtual charter schools

Nearly five months after Gov. Eric Holcomb called for “immediate attention and action” on Indiana’s subpar online charter schools, state education officials might soon take steps to address them — although they could fall short of the sweeping changes virtual school critics are pushing for.

The Indiana State Board of Education is expected to vote Wednesday on forming a committee that could become Indiana’s first effort in recent years to strengthen virtual charter school oversight. State board member Gordon Hendry would lead the committee. Hendry said it’s the state board’s responsibility to ensure online charter schools are performing and are managed properly, especially when Hoosier tax dollars support them.

He also added that if lawmakers won’t step in and take more immediate, decisive action — which they’ve been hesitant to do — the state board needs to add regulation. The Republican-dominated legislature killed three bills this year that would have regulated charter schools and declined to address virtual charter schools, which are public schools that allow students to attend school online from home.

“I have had my reservations about the poor performance of many of these schools,” said Hendry, a Democrat who has been on the board since 2013. “So I hope that we can draw some attention to the issue, bring in some of our thought leaders both in Indiana and nationally and try to solve some of the problems in a constructive way.”

Hendry said he is unsure if the measure will gain board support, but he’s hopeful. Holcomb’s education policy director, PJ McGrew, has been researching best practices in virtual schools across the country to help Indiana revise its own rules. Adopting new regulations could take at least a year after the committee makes its recommendations to the board.

Critics have called for more sweeping actions to address online charter schools, which — across the nation — suffer from low graduation rates, dismal student test scores, and financial and legal scandals.

A Chalkbeat investigation of Indiana Virtual School last year revealed how state law doesn’t go far enough to hold operators and authorizers of online charter schools accountable. The probe found that Indiana Virtual hired few teachers, posted poor academic performance and had questionable spending and business practices.

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Since then, the state has also seen new virtual education programs crop up within public school districts. Those online programs are hard to evaluate because districts don’t release separate data for them.

The National Association for Charter School Authorizers recommends that states consider policies specific to virtual schools, such as making enrollment more selective and funding them based on whether students complete classes.

Indiana falls short when it comes to virtual school regulation, according to the association’s most recent report, even as the state is praised for having charter school-friendly laws that the association says still hold schools accountable for performance. For the third year in a row, the group ranked Indiana No. 1 in the nation.

But online charter schools have effectively lobbied Indiana and other states to fend off major regulations.

It’s not yet clear how often the state board’s committee would meet or who would be on it. A majority of the state board would have to vote in favor to form the committee.

The state board has gone back and forth on how to handle virtual charter schools, most notably in its yearslong discussions on Hoosier Academy Virtual, which had reached its limit for consecutive F grades from the state. Ultimately, the board decided to impose a fairly lenient punishment.

The academy was headed by state board member Byron Ernest until he announced his resignation last fall, shortly after the school’s board voted to have the school close this June. Ernest recused himself from discussions and votes pertaining to Hoosier Academies.

State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick has joined Hendry in pushing for tighter accountability for virtual schools.

“Virtual charters are public schools, and the state spends millions of dollars to ensure that the students are receiving the best education they can,” Hendry said. “This is an appropriate topic for us to roll up our sleeves and do some real hard work and make some recommendations.”

Read more of Chalkbeat’s coverage of online schools here.